When Government Food Labeling Runs Amok

This article at the New York Times just has my head shaking, as I wonder just how much taxpayer money and government resources is being consumed by this, erm, issue:

But what makes a fish organic?[...]

To the dismay of some fishermen — including many in the Alaskan salmon industry — this means that wild fish, whose living conditions are not controlled, are not likely to make the grade. And that has led to a lot of bafflement, since wild fish tend to swim in pristine waters and are favored by fish lovers.

“If you can’t call a wild Alaska salmon true and organic,” asked Senator Lisa Murkowski, a Republican from Alaska, “what can you call organic?”

Instead, it appears that only farm-raised salmon may pass muster, as may a good number of other farm-raised fish — much to the delight of fish farmers.[...]

“It takes some thinking about,” said Rebecca J. Goldburg, a senior scientist at the advocacy group Environmental Defense, who was on the advisory panel. “What it comes down to is organic is about agriculture, and catching wild animals isn’t agriculture.”

You know, I can understand the concerns about defining what constitutes certified organic, as well as the concerns that “organic” should imply “most natural” which doesn’t necessarily imply aquaculture.

However, you’d think that there would have been some consensus already that for seafood the “organic”/”not organic” axis is arguably orthogonal to the “natural”/”farm-raised” dimension.

I can’t help but wonder just how many of my tax dollars are being spent to fund debate over labeling fish.